Building permits down 21% to $184M in January

Construction crews install sheathing at Focus Eye Care Specialists new building in Regina. Queen City Construction in the construction manager. The two-storey building at 101 E Victoria Ave. was issued a building permit valued at $1 million in August 2014.Don Healy / Regina Leader-Post

Saskatchewan building permit values fell nearly 21 per cent to $184.1 million in January from $232.8 million in December, according to data released by Statistics Canada earlier this week.

The biggest drop was in non-residential building permits, which fell nearly 43 per cent to $79.4 million in January from $139 million in December, the federal agency said. Residential permits were up 11.6 per cent to $104.7 million in January from $93.8 million in December.

However, year-over-year building permit values were down less than eight per cent, as residential construction permits increased 13.8 per cent from $91.9 million in January 2015, while non-residential permits dropped 26.4 per cent from $108 million in the same period last year.

The decline was due to a drop in multi-family home construction in British Columbia and Ontario and institutional buildings in Quebec and Alberta, Statistics Canada said.

The value of residential building permits fell 12.5 per cent to $4.0 billion in January, while non-residential permits fell 4.8 per cent to $2.4 billion.

On a year-over-year basis, Canadian municipalities saw a 6.7 per cent decline in building permit values to $6.3 billion from $6.8 billion in January 2015. The biggest decrease in percentage terms was in non-residential construction, which fell 12.6 per cent, while residential permits declined 2.8 per cent.

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